


A Change of Pace

by Handsome_Shark



Series: Illogical Husbands [4]
Category: Broadchurch, Masters of Sex
Genre: Alec Hardy Whump, Alec Hardy and His Broken Heart, Blood and Injury, Gun Violence, Hurt Alec Hardy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Whump, probably bad cpr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26451535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Handsome_Shark/pseuds/Handsome_Shark
Summary: Alec is shot and in line with his never ending streak of bad luck, it damages his pacemaker.
Relationships: Alec Hardy/William Masters
Series: Illogical Husbands [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754941
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	A Change of Pace

Pulling up to the Broadchurch court house, Alec shifts the car into park. 

“I just need to take care of a few things, shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.” Alec says, getting out of the car, leaving the keys in for Bill. “I’ll be quick, then we’ll be on our way.”

“I’ll be here.” Bill says, watching for a moment as Alec walks across the parking lot, a small fond smile on his lips. He turns his attention back to the file sitting on his lap. He had several thick folders tucked away in his bag in the backseat, never one to leave his work behind even when on a trip. 

He wouldn’t spend the whole trip working though, reaching down into his bag sitting between his feet. He pulls out a small black ring box, cracking it open to look at the gold band he’d chosen a couple weeks ago. Simple and nondescript, but on the inside, the date they first met was inscribed. An important day for the both of them.

Bill’s distracted reminiscing when a scream drags his attention away, and he looks up just in time to see a man, unmistakably aiming a gun right at Alec’s back. He rips the car door open, papers sliding to the floor, as he quickly tucks the ring box into his pants pocket. 

“ALEC!” He screams, as a gunshot echoes. His ears ring, quickly overtaken with the sound of blood rushing through his ears when Alec falls to the ground. 

“No.” Bill says to himself, stunned for a minute before he’s running across the parking lot. “No, no, no.” 

“Alec!” Bill calls, when he gets closer to Alec’s prone body, dropping to his knees as he instantly starts to access the situation. 

“Christ, that hurts.” Alec groans, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth as he pushes himself up, rolling so he’s sitting. Bill’s eyes lock on his shoulder, already covered in blood.

“Stop… just stop trying to move, for one moment.” Bill says, one hand grabbing Alec’s uninjured shoulder. . “You’ve just been shot.” 

Alec doesn't miss the way Bill’s voice cracks on the last word, 

“J-just in the shoulder.” Alec says, biting back a scream when the doctor starts poking around his shoulder. 

“Still serious, Alec.” Bill says working his shirt off with one hand, leaving himself in just an undershirt. He folds it up before pressing it to the wound, hoping to help staunch the flow of blood. 

“Hey,” Alec says, making eye contact with Bill, he can tell he’s barely holding it together. “I’ll be ok.” 

Even as he reassures Bill, pressure builds in his chest and pain radiating down from his shoulder. 

“You’re lucky that man was a terrible shot,” Bill says, wondering where the hell the ambulance is, the sound of sirens in the distance. “He could have hit an artery, you’d have bleed out before I even got out the car.”

“Lucky my partners a doctor...” Alec says, voice trailing off as his breathing gets shallower, the pressure in his chest starting to feel startlingly familiar. “I think… think I need to lie down.”

“Alec?” Bill says, his instinct telling him that something is wrong, besides the bullet wound. He gently lowers him so he’s laying on the ground. “Alec, what is it?”

Alec’s heart is thundering in his chest. He thought it had just been from the adrenaline of getting shot, but it was still going, and was starting to hurt. 

“Masters.” Alec gasps. Hand grasping at his chest, pain completely separate from the burning in his shoulder quickly overtaking. “H-heart, my heart.” 

“Shit.” Bill’s eyes go wide, he lifts his shirt, though it’s mostly soaked through with Alec’s blood now, and pulls Alec’s shirt open. His stomach drops when he sees the lump of a pacemaker sitting directly next to the gunshot wound. “I think your pacemaker is damaged.”

“Ya think?” Alec pants, heart doing its best to beat out of his chest, his vision going blurry. 

“Your meds?”

“In the car.” Alec groans. “I’m… i’m gonna pass..” Alec’s eyes roll back before he can even finish the sentence and he goes limp.

“Alec.” Bill says, panic rising, tapping his cheek to try and wake him up. “Alec, I need you to stay awake.” 

Bill looks up at their car, and it might as well be miles away. He should run, but he can’t force himself away from Alec, can’t leave him alone, fear that something else will happen as soon as he walks away.

Granted, he wouldn’t really be alone, a small congregation of bystanders having gathered to watch the pair, some even recording on their phones, but Bill is focused on Alec. 

“Where the hell is the ambulance?” Bill says, sirens approaching in the distance. He presses his fingers to the side of Alec’s neck, finding a weak and thready pulse. “Just hold on

There is someone talking behind him, chattering of voices all around, but it all fades into the background when Alec’s heart seems to stop, his pulse becoming undetectable against his fingers. 

All of his medical training takes over in an instant, starting chest compressions.

Alec is pale and unmoving under him, pressing down with all his weight on his chest. He cringes, feeling the sickening crack of bones under his palms. Broken ribs the most common injury from properly administered CPR. 

His world tunnels down to Alec as he counts out compressions, until he’s pulled bodily away from Alec, a paramedic yelling at him to step away.

Bill stumbles backwards, falling into the grass. He blinks, confused for a moment, he hadn’t heard anything, but he has a feeling they’d been trying to get his attention for at least a few minutes. 

He can do nothing, but sit and watch as strangers try to save the man he loves. 

Defibrillator pads are attached to Alec’s chest, and his back arches off the ground as they shock him.

Again.

Again.

Alec’s heart is finally shocked into a life sustaining rhythm, and Bill feels like he can breath again.

There is little time to feel relief as Alec is moved to a gurney and rolled into the ambulance, a pair of paramedic’s on either side calling out information faster than Bill can keep up with at the moment. 

Bill scrambles to his feet, almost tripping over them as he tries to get to the ambulance before the doors close. 

“He’s my boyfriend” Bill calls, eyes never leaving Alec’s limp form on the gurney. He pulls himself up into the ambulance, damned if anyone even tries to keep him from going with Alec. 

As soon as the door closes, the ambulance lurches forwards, sirens blaring.

“Here.” One of the paramedic’s is holding a small towel out for him. “For the blood, you’ve got a bit on your face too.” 

Bill freezes when he sees his hands, covered in Alec’s blood, nausea roiling in his belly. He blindly wipes at his face and tries to get what he can off his hands as he lists off the medications Alec is prescribed for his heart. 

The rest of the ride passes in a blur, his entire focus on Alec, and the beep of the heart monitor they’ve hooked him up too. Still too fast, still stuttering every few minutes, no matter what’s pushed through the IV in the crook of his arm. His breath catches in his chest every time Alec’s heartbeat jumps. 

\-----------------------

At the hospital, Alec is whirled back immediately, a team of doctors surrounding him. Bill is delegated to a waiting area by staff, unable to talk his way back, he doesn’t have any strings he can pull at his hospital. 

Bill collapses into an uncomfortable plastic chair and waits, lets his mind spin all kinds of awful scenarios. 

“Bill?”

A voice startles him out of his thoughts, and he looks up to find Ellie in the doorway.

“Ellie.” Bill gasps, he should have called here as soon as he got here. “I’m sorry, I should have ca....”

“No, no, don’t you start that.” Ellie cuts him off, walking over and taking a seat next to him. “I heard pretty much as soon as it happened anyway, don’t worry, Just couldn’t get away from the station till now. How is he?”

“I don’t know,” Bill says sadly, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I haven’t gotten any updates yet.” He says, a shaky breath escaping him as he fights his emotions, not willing to cry in front of Ellie. “His heart stopped, El.” 

“He’s strong, Bill.” Ellie says, her voice only trembling a little bit, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. “He’ll pull through, I know he will.” She is worried, it’s in her nature, but the Alec he knows is way too stubborn to let his heart take him out just yet. Not after he’d found Bill. 

Bill nods slowly, exhausted and a little relieved that someone whom he knows is there with him. 

“Oh, I brought you this,” Ellie says, pulling a change of clothes from her bag. “I heard it got pretty messy, not sure these’ll fit, but it’s better than what you’ve got. Why don’t you go clean up, maybe have a coffee? I’ll be here and if they have any news about Alec, i’ll call you.”

Bill looks at the door anxiously, then at the clock, he doesn’t want to leave, but a change of clothes sounds wonderful. Maybe a walk around the hospital would help his nerves. 

“Ok, yeah,” Bill says looking down at his hands, dried blood still covering his hands and under his fingernails, streaked on his white undershirt. He begrudgingly takes the offered change of clothes. “Thanks.

“I’ll call if anything happens.”

\---------------

Bill wonders around until he finds a bathroom, locking the door behind him. 

He stands at the sink, turning the faucets on so that the water warms up. He looks at himself for the first time, staring at his reflection. He still has Alec’s blood smeared on his face, a red streak across the bridge of his nose. His breath catches in his chest at the sight, and he has to look away. 

Bill shoves his hands in the hot water, his vision starting to go watery, and his chest getting tighter. A squirt of soap from the dispenser lathers as he scrubs his hands. As the water washes over his skin, removing traces of Alec’s blood, the tears and emotions he’s held back all day, which have been bubbling to the surface, finally break loose. 

A sob breaks free from his throat, tears flowing down his cheeks as he tries to scrub the stubborn blood from under his fingernails. And now that he’s started crying, he can’t stop, like a flood gate has burst open. 

Once the last flecks of blood have been rinsed from under his nails and the last bit of pink has swirled it’s way down the drain, the weight on Bill’s chest lifts and he can breath again.

\-------------------------

When Bill calms down a little, he returns to the waiting room, relieved that Ellie is still waiting for any news on Alec. 

He quietly takes his seat back next to her, eternally grateful that she doesn't say anything, because it’s very obvious he’s been crying, his eyes red and swollen. 

“Are you two here Alec Hardy?” A doctor says, from the door of the room. 

“Yes,” Bill says, sitting straight up in his chair, right on the edge. “Is he alright?”

“He’s stable now, in recovery.” The doctor says. “The gunshot damaged his pacemaker and fractured his collarbone. We were able to replace the pacemaker, and the arrhythmia is stabilized. With the strain his heart endured when the pacemaker was not functioning, we want to keep him for observation for at least a night though, just to be safe. 

Bill deflates in his seat, relief flooding his system. 

“Can I see him?” Bill asks.

“He’s still asleep,” The doctor says. “but i’ll take you back.” 

“You go on, I'll come by later.” Ellie says, standing and pulling Bill into a hug, the man hugging her back. 

“Are you sure, you don’t need to..” 

“I’m sure, Bill, promise.” She says with a smile. 

The doctor leads Bill back to Alec’s room, leaving him alone.

Alec looks much paler than usual, fragile in a way that scares him. Wires trail from his chest, to the heart monitor and the steady beep, beep, beep that says his heart is beating. One arm is slung to his chest, white bandages peak out of the neck of his gown. 

He collapses into the chair next to Alec’s bed, scrubbing his face with his hands. It’s been an incredibly long day. He sits back, his hands resting on his thigh, when his hand hits a bump, and he remembers the ring box in his pocket. 

He pulls the box out, turning it over in his hands, cracking it open to look at the simple silver band. 

He looks back up at Alec, his heart heavy as he slips his hand into Alec’s and waits. 

\-------------

Bill must doze off at some point, he wakes when his head pillowed on the bed, Alec’s hand in his hair. 

Bill jolts upright, forgetting for a moment where he was, though Alec laid up a hospital bed in front of him makes all of the memories of his morning come crashing back. 

“Alec,” Bill says, leaning forward. “Hey, how’re you feeling?”

“Tired.” Alec says quietly, his voice rough. “Like I’ve been shot.”

“They probably sedated you.” Bill says. “Your pacemaker was damaged.”

“Always knew it was gonna be my heart that got me.” Alec says, though he immediately regrets it when Bill’s face changes from exhausted relief to devastation.

“Alec… you almost died.” Bill says, his eyes tearing up. “Your heart stopped.” 

Alec just stares, as he processes that news. 

“It stopped,” Bill sniffles, a tear escaping and sliding down his cheek. It was getting harder to hold it in, emotion sitting heavy in his chest. “I felt it stop.” 

And that’s humbling, the truth of the situation weighing on him. Sure his heart had sent him to the hospital many times before he finally had the pacemaker surgery, but it had never stopped before. 

“I’m sorry.” He says, voice quiet, understanding what he’d inadvertently put Bill though. 

“It’s not your fault, you didn’t ask to get shot.” 

“I know… still, you don’t deserve to go through this.” Alec says, his head rolling to the side to see Bill better. “Just ‘cause I’ve made enemies.”

“Comes with the territory.” Bill says, sniffling again, wiping his eyes. “They got the guy that did it. You recognize him?”

“Honestly, didn’t even have enough time to see anything before he shot me.” Alec says. “Help me sit up?”

Bill helps Alec up a little, propping him on some pillows. 

“Fuck, my chest hurts.” Alec hisses, eyes clenched in pain. 

“That’s partly my fault.” Bill admits. “I definitely broke at least one rib with the chest compressions. Your collar bone was broken too, so you shouldn’t move too much“ Bill says, laying a hand on Alec’s belly to still him. 

“It’s fine.” Alec tilts his head in understanding, he really was lucky that his partner was a doctor.  
He wiggles a bit, trying to find a comfortable position, but it just hurts anyway. “Small price to pay.” 

“Careful, your collar bone was broken too, you shouldn’t move too much“ Bill says, laying a hand on Alec’s belly to still him. 

“You’ll be discharged tomorrow as long as nothing else happens. All you have to do is rest, and if you so much as think about getting out of bed I’ll personally restrain you myself.”

“Is that a promise?” Alec asks with a quirked eyebrow


End file.
